I had a wonderful time on the CM cruise on the Carnival Glory. It seems lately that they never have 7 day cruises to choose from. I cruise single so a long cruise is out of the question for me. I would love to see CM do something shorter.

Laura

__________________
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.“
---Mark Twain

It's a sad situation Laura. It seems to me that like lots of other things here, the CM cruise is targeted toward a select few, instead of us,,,the masses. We too, have had wonderful times aboard CM cruises in the past, (ie: Century!) and would like to do it all again, but I don't want to do an 18 day cruise. (The lovely Mrs. Jones would probably go for that one!) I'll keep watching, and perhaps there'll be a CM Cruise in our future.

One of the problems is that cruise lines are pulling group space earlier than they used to. Especially on popular sailings like the Caribbean. It's hard for the agents to hold the space for more than 30 days before the cruise line pulls it back.

Take care,
Mike

__________________Cruisemates Community Leader/Moderator

"There is a great difference between being well traveled and just having been to many places." ~Me

It's a sad situation Laura. It seems to me that like lots of other things here, the CM cruise is targeted toward a select few, instead of us,,,the masses.

"SKY"

Sky... sorry, but that is a super load of Yak drool. Over the years we've put together way more seven day cruises than longer ones, and ALL our group cruises have been meant for EVERYONE.

March 2012 we had a group on the NCL Epic out of Florida (with Chef Matt from Hell's Kitchen 4). We also had a version in 2011. We've had a CM group out of Galvestion in the last couple of New Years, as well as a couple of the Carnival "Blogger's Cruises". We've had a group on Allure of the Seas from Florida, that we had to cancel because no one was booking.

The majority of the seven day cruises we've done have resulted in smaller groups; like last years Epic where it was under 30 people.

With the history, since we began CM groups, we learned the cruises which were 10 days or longers, simply were considerably more popular (resulting in larger groups) than the wk. long cruises.

Part of the problem is the cruise lines group policies have made it more difficult, with rules, where they begin to take back unsold cabins within 30 days of establishing the group etc.

With logistics of a "site cruise", we do need longer to build a group for a specific sailing.

Another part of the problem is it seems a lot of cruisemates want the ship to "pick them up at their door".

When asking people what they might want to do as a CM group cruise, people tend to say they want them done on cruises on which they are already booked ; or everyone wants to choos a specific date... the only problem, the dates are usually all different

Sky... sorry, but that is a super load of Yak drool. Over the years we've put together way more seven day cruises than longer ones, and ALL our group cruises have been meant for EVERYONE.

March 2012 we had a group on the NCL Epic out of Florida (with Chef Matt from Hell's Kitchen 4). We also had a version in 2011. We've had a CM group out of Galvestion in the last couple of New Years, as well as a couple of the Carnival "Blogger's Cruises". We've had a group on Allure of the Seas from Florida, that we had to cancel because no one was booking.

The majority of the seven day cruises we've done have resulted in smaller groups; like last years Epic where it was under 30 people.

With the history, since we began CM groups, we learned the cruises which were 10 days or longers, simply were considerably more popular (resulting in larger groups) than the wk. long cruises.

Part of the problem is the cruise lines group policies have made it more difficult, with rules, where they begin to take back unsold cabins within 30 days of establishing the group etc.

With logistics of a "site cruise", we do need longer to build a group for a specific sailing.

Another part of the problem is it seems a lot of cruisemates want the ship to "pick them up at their door".

When asking people what they might want to do as a CM group cruise, people tend to say they want them done on cruises on which they are already booked ; or everyone wants to choos a specific date... the only problem, the dates are usually all different

I think a CM cruise on December 7,2013 on Carnival Liberty would be nice......That's what I'm already booked on!

Sky... sorry, but that is a super load of Yak drool. Over the years we've put together way more seven day cruises than longer ones, and ALL our group cruises have been meant for EVERYONE.

O.K. Moose Man. Just how many seven day cruises are currently in the works to be CruiseMates Cruises? Uh huh....just what I thought. NONE! Most of us PO FOLKS out here can't afford to fly to Venice, Italy, and leave our homes, work, family etc., for eighteen days. Just ain't gonna happen. On the other hand, if you offered, or suggested, or whatever, a nice seven to ten day cruise, out of a port in the U.S., I'd bet a lot of folks would jump on it. Give it a thought......

Ken, I have to agree. An 18 day cruise to Europe plus air and hotel is absolutely out of the question for me. I travel single and the supplement alone is killer. Not to mention hotels and air 2 ways. Sure I would love to sail from Port Canaveral or Tampa but I would be willing to do most any Florida port. Tampa is getting boring. Both of Carnival's ships there do the same ports. I do not understand why the Legend cannot rotate east and west like Dream does from Port Canaveral.

Laura

__________________
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.“
---Mark Twain

One of the problems is that cruise lines are pulling group space earlier than they used to. Especially on popular sailings like the Caribbean. It's hard for the agents to hold the space for more than 30 days before the cruise line pulls it back.

Take care,
Mike

Mike I well understand that the cruise lines are getting tighter with space. I have run into this several times.One line in particular is a pain about this. On the other hand the CM groups usually fill up fast enough to meet the requirements.

Laura

__________________
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.“
---Mark Twain

We'd love to do a CM cruise from Houston or Galveston. It's too expensive for airfare and cruise $$$ for us to cruise from Florida for just 7 days. The airfare is SO expensive! If we can drive to Texas we can afford more cruise day's !

Fern, my thoughts exactly! Apparently CM likes about six months to gather a group. Would people accept a ten-day cruise? That would help justify the air fare.

Could a good travel agent make a deal with a cruise line, preferably not Carnival, to hold a certain number of cabins for six months? Also, could CM, when they announce the new cruise on the site, tell people how long the agent can hold the cabins?

Actually, the best type of group cruise is a TA. They can be as short as 12 days, less expensive per day than Caribbean and airfare oneway. Airfare from say choiceair from just about anywhere in the US to the popular Euro ports will be $450 to $650. Add the airfare to the TA cruise price and it will not be anymore than the Caribbean. As an example, I have a 15 day balcony TA booked for 11/1/13 on the new Reflection for $1199 + $575 air +$450 OBC. That's a group rate, but that's what a group rate should be.

What makes the TA a good choice is the group activities with the CM posters that you have been corresponding with for so long. Groups always have slot pulls, cabin crawls, sailaway and wine tasting parties, grab bags and many more social get-to-gethers. Also there will be a few port stops in historical Euro cities, much different than the carib.

For those who cruise alone, you have been corresponding w/others on this site long enough where sharing a cabin with another single you may not have met but know from sharing discussions will benefit both.

O F C'er

__________________Experiences over the years enabled me to have all the answers, but not necessarily corresponding with your questions.

On my last cruise, the Group Meetup was a disaster. Everyone was completely blind stinking drunk, and this was BEFORE sailaway. I ended up avoiding everyone in the green t-shirts the whole cruise. Gave my shirt to a kid on St. Maarten.

On my last cruise, the Group Meetup was a disaster. Everyone was completely blind stinking drunk, and this was BEFORE sailaway. I ended up avoiding everyone in the green t-shirts the whole cruise. Gave my shirt to a kid on St. Maarten.

That definitely is not the norm. You must have gone on a inexpensive short cruise during spring break. But, I know what you did if one of those drunks bothered you on the elevator.

O F C'er

__________________Experiences over the years enabled me to have all the answers, but not necessarily corresponding with your questions.

We'd love to do a CM cruise from Houston or Galveston. It's too expensive for airfare and cruise $$$ for us to cruise from Florida for just 7 days. The airfare is SO expensive! If we can drive to Texas we can afford more cruise day's !

Within the past few years we've had two groups out of Galveston. One that Trip hosted, and one that Snoozeman hosted. I don't recall the exact numbers, but if I recall, both were around 20- 30 people.

Part of the problem in picking group cruises is that some people want the "ship to pick em up at home" - by that I mean, like you, they want to cruise out of the port closest to them (whether that is New York, Florida, Texas, or whatever.

Then others like Judy, who don't want to cruise certain lines, or only want to cruise certain lines.

Don't get me wrong... very understandable, and normal approaches. They are all just factors that affect the process of choosing group cruises.

Also, to address Judy, the cruise lines won't just agree to give you six months. They have made groups more difficult, not less. They used to guarantee pricing, now unless it's something like Carnival's "early saver rates" they don't even do that.

Some large agencies sometimes will actually buy the cabins in order to hold them longer.

It is just a fact that it takes longer to "build" a group on the Internet. Other "affinity groups" like music cruises, etc. build a bit quicker.

When travel agents were allowed to discount pricing, it was pretty easy to get group space and offer considerable discounts.

All of that said, I am going to try and set up a seven day group cruise, for fall or early winter 2013... since you folks are expressing interest.

Within the past few years we've had two groups out of Galveston. One that Trip hosted, and one that Snoozeman hosted. I don't recall the exact numbers, but if I recall, both were around 20- 30 people.

Part of the problem in picking group cruises is that some people want the "ship to pick em up at home" - by that I mean, like you, they want to cruise out of the port closest to them (whether that is New York, Florida, Texas, or whatever.

Then others like Judy, who don't want to cruise certain lines, or only want to cruise certain lines.

Don't get me wrong... very understandable, and normal approaches. They are all just factors that affect the process of choosing group cruises.

Also, to address Judy, the cruise lines won't just agree to give you six months. They have made groups more difficult, not less. They used to guarantee pricing, now unless it's something like Carnival's "early saver rates" they don't even do that.

Some large agencies sometimes will actually buy the cabins in order to hold them longer.

It is just a fact that it takes longer to "build" a group on the Internet. Other "affinity groups" like music cruises, etc. build a bit quicker.

When travel agents were allowed to discount pricing, it was pretty easy to get group space and offer considerable discounts.

All of that said, I am going to try and set up a seven day group cruise, for fall or early winter 2013... since you folks are expressing interest.

Then, we'll hope you jump in to participate.

Kuki any chance of making the cruise I'm on a CM cruise? I'm already booked for Dec 7,2013 and would of held off booking it if I had known that there was the possibility of one in the making...That's why I started this thread in the first place to see if just maybe we could do it. If not oh well and I'll be interested in seeing who on here that wants to do it really books.

I agree with Skymaster, many of us, myself included, cannot afford to take long amounts of time off work and/or fly to Europe for cruises, it is hard enough affording airfare to Florida! 7 days is all I can afford, and maybe a stretch to 10 days to make the airfare worth it. I've managed only 1 CM cruise in 10 years, but would love to do another, there's so many people I want to meet, and to see again!